A huge number of factors go into the success of any football team, but mostly it comes down to players. In this series, we will be examining 25 of them in a reverse-order look at the players most crucial to the success of the 2007 Oklahoma State season.

This is not, however, a list of the best players on the team. Rather, this series takes into consideration the importance of a given position on the team, depth issues, experience and inexperience, and the historic strengths and weaknesses of Mike Gundy's program. The results, therefore, may surprise many readers, and will hopefully spur spirited discussion and debate.

You might expect OSU's third-leading tackler to rate a little higher on this list, especially given the emphasis this list has had with defenders.

Rodrick Johnson would be higher if he were still at middle linebacker. Instead, Johnson moved to defensive end in the spring.